| 1933–34 NHL season | |
| League: | National Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | November 9, 1933 – April 10, 1934 |
| Season: | Regular season |
| No Of Games: | 48 |
| No Of Teams: | 9 |
| Season Champs: | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Mvp: | Aurel Joliat (Canadiens) |
| Mvp Link: | Hart Memorial Trophy |
| Top Scorer: | Charlie Conacher (Maple Leafs) |
| Conf1: | Canadian Division |
| Conf1 Champ: | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Conf2: | American Division |
| Conf2 Champ: | Detroit Red Wings |
| Finals: | Stanley Cup |
| Finals Link: | 1934 Stanley Cup Finals |
| Finals Champ: | Chicago Black Hawks |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Detroit Red Wings |
| Nextseason Link: | 1934–35 NHL season |
| Prevseason Link: | 1932–33 NHL season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1934–35 |
| Prevseason Year: | 1932–33 |
| Seasonslistnames: | NHL |
The 1933–34 NHL season was the 17th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nine teams each played 48 games. The Chicago Black Hawks were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Detroit Red Wings three games to one.
The New York Americans introduce new sweaters. The team's home uniform uses the word 'Americans' across the front with white stars over a blue area around the shoulders with red and white stripes below the wording. The road uniform is white with a shield logo. There are sleeves and shoulders are blue with a horizontal red stripe at the bottom of the sweater. The team is the second NHL team to have two sets of uniforms, after the Toronto Maple Leafs.
| 1933-34 National Hockey League | |||||
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian | |||||
| Montreal Canadiens | Montreal, Quebec | Montreal Forum | 12,500 | ||
| Montreal Maroons | Montreal, Quebec | Montreal Forum | 12,500 | ||
| New York Americans | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 15,925 | ||
| Ottawa Senators | Ottawa, Ontario | Ottawa Auditorium | 7,500 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto, Ontario | Maple Leaf Gardens | 12,473 | ||
| American | Boston Bruins | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Madison Square Garden | 13,909 | |
| Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 16,000 | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | Detroit, Michigan | Detroit Olympia | 15,000 | ||
| New York Rangers | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 15,925 | ||
The Ottawa Senators, having enough problems, now had to deal with holdout Cooney Weiland. He was sold to Detroit, strengthening the Red Wings. The Senators continued to lose, but won a few games when they signed an amateur named Max Kaminsky to centre the Roche brothers Desse and Earl. A defenceman, Ralph "Scotty" Bowman, gave Ottawa fans a little to cheer about. But the handwriting was on the wall, and in the last NHL game to be played in Ottawa until the NHL returned to that city in 1992, the Senators let the New York Americans use goaltender Alex Connell when Roy Worters was hurt. He helped the Americans beat his club.
A major trade was a swap of goaltenders as Lorne Chabot was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for George Hainsworth. The Canadiens also loaned Wilf Cude to Detroit and he led theRed Wings to first place. Chabot did not do badly either, leading the Canadian Division in goaltending, helping the goal-strapped Canadiens to second place. Aurel Joliat of the Canadiens won the Hart Trophy.
See main article: Ace Bailey Benefit Game. On February 14, 1934, the first NHL All-Star Game, albeit an unofficial one, was held to benefit Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ace Bailey, who suffered a career-ending injury. On December 12, 1933, near the end of the second period of a game between the Leafs and the Boston Bruins in the Boston Garden, Bailey was hit from behind by Bruins defenceman Eddie Shore, in retaliation for a check that Toronto defenceman King Clancy had delivered to Shore. Bailey was not the intended target of the check; Shore wanted to hit Clancy instead. Bailey was badly hurt, unconscious and bleeding. The Leafs' Red Horner took offence to the hit, and subsequently knocked out Shore with a punch. Shore was forgiven after the game when both players regained consciousness, with Bailey saying that it was "all part of the game." However, Bailey passed out and lapse into convulsions. Bailey was not expected to live after a single night in the hospital after suffering from severe hemorrhaging. It was made well known that Shore would have been charged with manslaughter were Bailey to die. He gradually recovered, but his hockey career was over. For his actions, Shore received a 16-game suspension, a third of the 48-game schedule of the time, while Horner was suspended for the remainder of the 1932–33 season.
The game itself was proposed by Walter Gilhooley, the sports editor of the Journal in Montreal. This proposal became a reality on January 24, 1934, in a meeting of the NHL's Board of Governors in 1934. The game was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, during which Bailey's #6 uniform was retired by the Leafs. It was the first number to be retired in the NHL. The game saw the Leafs battle against an All-Star team made of players from the other eight teams, which the Leafs won 7–3. One of the more memorable moments before the game was when Bailey presented Shore with his All-Star jersey, showing to the public that Bailey had clearly forgiven him for his actions. Bailey also presented a trophy to NHL President Frank Calder before a game in the hope that the trophy would go to the winner of an annual All-Star Game for the benefit of injured players.
See main article: 1934 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings three games to one with the fourth game going into double overtime. After regulation time in the fourth game, Black Hawks star goaltender and two-time Vezina Trophy winner, Charlie Gardiner, left the game because he wasn't feeling well. He died two months later of a brain hemorrhage.
| Rookie of the Year | Russ Blinco, Montreal Maroons | |
| Hart Trophy
| Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens | |
| Lady Byng Trophy
| Frank Boucher, New York Rangers | |
| O'Brien Cup
| Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| Prince of Wales Trophy
| Detroit Red Wings | |
| Vezina Trophy
| Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks |
| First Team | Position | Second Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks | align=center | G | Roy Worters, New York Americans | |
| King Clancy, Toronto Maple Leafs | align=center | D | Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins | |
| Lionel Conacher, Chicago Black Hawks | align=center | D | Ching Johnson, New York Rangers | |
| Frank Boucher, New York Rangers | align=center | C | Joe Primeau, Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| Charlie Conacher, Toronto Maple Leafs | align=center | RW | Bill Cook, New York Rangers | |
| Busher Jackson, Toronto Maple Leafs | align=center | LW | Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens | |
| Lester Patrick, New York Rangers | align=center | Coach | Dick Irvin, Toronto Maple Leafs |
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 42 | 32 | 20 | 52 | 38 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 45 | 14 | 32 | 46 | 8 | ||
| New York Rangers | 48 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 4 | ||
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 27 | 12 | 39 | 12 | ||
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 22 | 17 | 39 | 68 | ||
| New York Rangers | 48 | 13 | 26 | 39 | 10 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 38 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 38 | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 22 | 15 | 37 | 27 | ||
| Montreal Maroons | 47 | 18 | 19 | 37 | 58 | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 17 |
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | GA | SO | GAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal, Detroit | 30 | 1920 | 47 | 5 | 1.47 | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 3050 | 83 | 10 | 1.63 | ||
| New York Americans | 36 | 2240 | 75 | 4 | 2.01 | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 47 | 2928 | 101 | 8 | 2.07 | ||
| New York Rangers | 48 | 2990 | 76 | 7 | 2.27 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1933–34 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1933–34 (listed with their last team):